I thought it was the 11th or 12th to give you some idea of how quickly time is going. It’s been a while since I wrote, almost three weeks, I’ll have to piece things together through emails and Skype conversations. The internet has been even more unreliable since about a week ago. As it turns out there’s a damaged cord in Vung Tau, particularly the connection from Vietnam to America. Rumor has it we’ve got another week or two before it’s repaired. I have to admit it’s easier to be zen about things when you finally have some sort of answer to the question, even if it seems mildly ridiculous.
Things are settling down a bit and I feel like I’m falling into a routine. Not every day is good, but something good happens every day; if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times. Plenty of negative thoughts cross my mind, often multiple times a day, but like I implied I’m trying to be more zen about everything.
Last Thursday I moved into my new apartment with Tracey from Manchester and Lizzy from Ann Arbor. I still don’t know if she has a friend or sibling old enough to know Pete Creekmore. The acquaintance you hold with people is so strange. Vietnam is proving how small the world really is.
Danielle helped me bring all of my stuff up and we went for dinner and quiz night at Le Pub. I’ve heard such wonderful things about it, but I found it rather dull. I decided to head home out of exhaustion. First night in my beautiful apartment.
Wednesday I worked and that was about it. I was completely exhausted. The girls and I watched most of Never Let Me Go, but all decided to head to sleep around ten. I think majority of my exhaustion stems from the heat, walking around in it, and sweating out all of the energy you consume. Now I’d really like to finish the film, but I don’t know what happened to it.
Thursday was another uneventful day, I think. I almost prefer them, at least for now. I may have gone to Scoozi with Danielle, Romy, and Bill… pretty amazing pizza for the other side of the world. Were we not sitting outside under an awning in the rain, were the servers and pizza makers not Vietnamese, and were there not cockroaches scuttling up my legs, I might have believed we were in New York.
Friday my exhaustion continued. Home and asleep by 10:45.
Saturday I met Isabelle by the opera house to have lunch at a Japanese restaurant – best chicken teriyaki ever. Ernst joined us. Good chat about retaliation against thieves and Harry Potter. Predictably, McGonagle and Snape are their favorites respectively.
Isabelle and I walked and walked. We stopped at the equivalent of Starbucks for a drink to let the heat dissipate. We walked back to my apartment and then got dinner at the restaurant around the corner from my apartment (Papaya). Went our early ways, another early night in bed.
Sunday I woke up early, did a little Skyping when it worked and went down to Bui Vien to Bobby Brewers to get out of my apartment but also out of the heat. I stuck around for How Do You Know and Sanctum before walking home. A wonderful way to kill a hot afternoon. It’s only going to get hotter, I have no idea when I’ll make it to the zoo or the War Remnants Museum (even though that’s inside).
Monday was uneventful.
And here we are at Tuesday. I walked home, as usual, bought some really cute pants along the way. We’re all getting ready to head out to Ladies Night at Lush, our first true outing as roommates. Work was dreadful; the internet is dreadful and this piece I’m working on is so factually incorrect. I did get to work on Klimt, Rodin, and Monet in between. Friday is my deadline, so hopefully the internet picks up a bit so I can get all my fact checking done efficiently.
